Kiss Me At Midnight (Or Later If You Prefer)
by nekilarose
Summary: Kristen and Jubal celebrate New Year's their way.


"3,2,1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Kristen smiled faintly as she counted down along with the radio the last seconds of 2019. The year had had its ups and downs, and while she was sorry to see it go, she was more than eager to see what 2020 would hold in store for her.

"Ooh, the hot dog cart is back, I'm gonna go snag one, you want?" Kristen shook her head at her partner. "I'm good, but thanks."

'Suit yourself." Scola exits the vehicle, pulling his jacket closer around him and shivering in the night air. "Nothing like a fresh hot dog to celebrate the New Year!" He called back as he prepared to cross the road.

She waited until Scola was a good distance away before making the call.

"Hey you." The warmth in his voice did more to heat her insides than the air blowing from the vents. "How's the stakeout going?"

Kristen shifted in her seat, "It's going, he showed up right on time. Now we're just waiting on the go signal from Maggie and O.A."

"Well, stay ready. He can still try and bolt." He cleared his throat before adding, "It would be a shame to sit there all night and miss out on celebrating New Years for nothing."

Even though she knew he couldn't see her, she ducked her head and smiled, "It's fine. I didn't have any plans, anyway."

"No hot date?" He teased.

"No, he got called in to work." She sighed dramatically, "We're going to have to find some other way to celebrate instead."

"Lucky guy." And there it was. That low rumbly voice that never failed to cause the butterflies in her stomach to go crazy. She bit her lower lip to try and contain the giggle that threatened to escape. "Yeah, he's alright."

"Just alright, huh?" The noise in the background had dimmed considerably, which meant he was no longer out on the floor where anyone could overhear his conversation. She pictured him leaning against the wall somewhere in the hallway. He cleared his throat again, "Listen Kris, I know this isn't how you wanted to spend New Years-"

"It's fine." She interrupted, "I totally get it, and besides, we've been after this guy for a while. I can think of worse ways to usher in the new year than to catch a notorious sex trafficker."

"Yeah?" She could hear the relief in his voice. She knew one of the main arguments that he'd had with his ex-wife was the long hours he spent in the office and out in the field.

"Yeah." She shifted again, "Besides, there's no law saying that you have to celebrate only at midnight. The way I see it, the entire day is fair game."

"The entire day, huh?" She could hear the smile in his voice, "Well, I guess that's good news for the poor soul that had to miss out on a kiss at midnight."

"Oh, he'll get his." She teased.

"Is that a promise, Agent Chazal?" If it was possible, his voice got even lower.

"Well, I-" She was cut off by the car door being yanked open.

"I know you said you didn't want one, buuut I went ahead and got you one anyway. Just mustard, right?" Scola hopped into the SUV and shut the door, all the while somehow managing to balance the three hot dogs held in his hands.

"Um, yeah. Thanks." Kristen took the proffered item with one hand, the other still holding her phone to her ear. "I'll talk to you later." She hung up and tossed her phone onto the dashboard.

"Updating Jubal on our stake-out?" Scola said innocently. Too innocently. Kristen narrowed her eyes in his direction. He didn't acknowledge her look, just took a big bite of his hot dog that was loaded with what seemed like every available topping. "Yes, I was updating him." She said primly before taking a bite of her own hot dog.

"Good, good, saves me from having to do it." He paused, hot dog held aloft in the air, "I'm sure he's already thanked you for giving up your plans for tonight just to catch this guy."

Kristen waved him off, "No biggie, job comes first, right?"

Scola turned to regard her with what she's taken to calling his 'serious Stuart' face, "The job is important, no doubt about that, but don't let it become everything. I've seen a lot of relationships crumble under that pressure." Kristen swallowed nervously; it didn't sound like he was just speaking in general terms.

"You can have everything in common, even work well together, but if you don't also take the time to slow down and, oh I don't know" here he stared straight at Kristen, "celebrate the normal things like a new year, you can burn yourselves out pretty fast."

Kristen's heart was beating a mile a minute, did he know? Was this his way of telling her, without actually telling her, that knew and that he was okay with their relationship? She took a deep breath, "I don't want my commitment to this job to ever be in question." She said quietly, "Nor do I want to give anyone any room to say I only got ahead because of favoritism."

He scoffed, "If anyone ever says that, tell them to come find me. You work hard, kiddo, and it shows. You don't need to go overboard to prove something to me…or anyone in the JOC." He nudged her elbow with his, "You're solid."

"We've got movement in the front of the club." O.A's voice suddenly came over the speaker. They both scrambled to collect themselves and focus on their mission.

* * *

The sun was high by the time Kristen left the office. It was shaping up to be a beautiful day; there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the wind was minimal. She stepped outside and took a deep breath, letting the cold crisp air infiltrate her lungs. There were a few stragglers here and there, revelers that refused to let the party atmosphere die without a fight. She laughed as they dashed past her, throwing handfuls of confetti in the air, and shouting for all of New York to hear. The party for them didn't stop at midnight, oh no, these few were bound and determined to keep the joy going for as long as they could.

She was suddenly struck with an idea and hurried off to grab the nearest cab. Jubal would be at work for at least another hour, she surmised. That would give her plenty of time to get everything in place.

* * *

Kristen smiled to herself as she surveyed the apartment, not her best work, but passable. She glanced at the clock and frowned, hopefully Jubal would be off and headed home right now, otherwise all her hard work would go to waste.

She was messing around in the kitchen when she heard his keys in the door. "Hey Kris, I…" She heard him trail off and knew he must be looking around in bewilderment. She tossed her hair back, smoothed out the slight wrinkles in her dress and walked out of the kitchen to see him standing in the living room with a confused expression. "What is all this?

Kristen smiled and handed him a flute of apple cider, "Well, I figured since we missed the clock striking twelve, we can recreate it for ourselves." She gestured to the party decorations that she'd managed to get on sale at the corner store, along with the black-out curtains that she'd hastily put up over the blinds, making the room as dark as it would have been at night.

She took his hand and led him to the oversized digital clock that she had been lucky to find. It was slowly counting down to twelve. "See, our very own countdown." She frowned, "Granted it's counting down to twelve noon, but-"

She was cut off by his lips crashing down on hers. She blindly set her drink down and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

When the need for oxygen became too much, she reluctantly broke the kiss and buried her face in the crook of his neck. He tightened his arms around her waist and dropped a kiss on her forehead, "I can't believe you went to all this trouble."

"It wasn't any trouble, I had fun decorating. Who knows, maybe this could be the start of a new tradition." The words were out of Kristen's mouth before she realized it and she hid her face in his neck, willing him to ignore what she just blurted out.

"A new tradition?" He said softly, "I can get behind that."

"Yeah?" Kristen leaned back to study his face.

"Yeah."

Kristen beamed as she rose up on her tip toes to seal their deal with a kiss. She glanced at the digital clock and gasped, there was only 30 seconds left. "We almost missed it again!"

She broke free of his embrace and ran to get the party hats. Jubal groaned but agreed to wear it if she promised not to take any pictures.

She may have snuck in one or two.

When the clock hit 12, Jubal pulled her close once more, "Happy New Year, Kristen."

"Happy New Year, Jubal. Now kiss me, it's midnight."

"Its noon."

"Close enough."


End file.
